Behringer BDS-3 Review: The Forgotten Simmons Drum Synth Reborn

  / starskycarr   Before hex pads. Before 80s pop clichés. Before electronic drums went mainstream… there was the SDS-3. In this video, I take an in-depth look at Behringer’s BDS-3 (originally labelled SDS-3), a modern Eurorack recreation of the 1978 Simmons SDS-3 — one of the very first analogue drum synthesizers ever made. Long before the famous SDS-5 kits, the SDS-3 was designed to augment acoustic drums using mic triggers, analogue filters, envelopes, noise and pitch modulation. I explore how the original worked, why it wasn’t a commercial success, and why that actually makes it such an interesting instrument today. Then I put the Behringer BDS-3 through its paces: sound design, MIDI control, mic triggering, Eurorack use, modulation tricks, and how those four identical analogue voices interact as a single instrument You’ll hear everything from deep sub kicks and MiniPops-style tones, to metallic blips, noise-based percussion and evolving analogue textures — plus why this design still feels surprisingly modern almost 50 years later. In this video: The history of the Simmons SDS-3 (1978) Why it failed commercially but shaped electronic drums Why Behringer renamed it BDS-3 Analogue drum synthesis explained Mic triggering vs MIDI triggering Eurorack integration Filter sweeps, pitch envelopes, noise & modulation Real musical examples and sound design demos If you’re into analogue drum synths, Simmons history, Behringer clones, or unusual ways of creating electronic percussion, this one’s for you. 👉 Subscribe for more deep-dive synth history, demos, and no-nonsense reviews 👉 Support the channel on Patreon for patches, samples & tutorials Affiliate Links: Thomann https://thmn.to/thoprod/629902?offid=... Signal Sounds https://www.signalsounds.com/?ref=STA... Perfect Circuit https://www.pjtra.com/t/SENKTExLTUtDS... Sweetwater https://sweetwater.sjv.io/9LERj4 Other places you’ll find me: ► Instagram:   / starskycarr   ► Facebook:   / starskycarr   ► Twitter:   / starskycarr   ► Bandcamp https://starskycarr.bandcamp.com/rele... ► Clubbing TV From the Studio:    • From The Studio   0:00 intro demo 1:38 What's an SDS-3? 3:44 Mic input 4:46 How the voices work 10:37 The Secret Sauce: LFO can modulate all 4 13:20 RUN!! 17:36 Minipops CR-78 stylie #behringer #sds-3 #review #demo #drums #musicproducer